


Vertebrae

by LordGrimwing



Series: Not Quite Dead [2]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Description of Injuries, Gen, Hurt, Ianto and Jack are here too but they don't do that much, Spoilers through s02e07 Dead Man Walking, Undead Owen Harper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:20:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22078363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordGrimwing/pseuds/LordGrimwing
Summary: Jack lets Owen tag along to investigate a small spike in rift energy on a very quiet day (even a dead guy shouldn't be kept inside all the time). Things really don't go well.
Series: Not Quite Dead [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923064
Kudos: 11





	Vertebrae

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, I wrote this to hurt Owen. Fair warning.  
> Prof read by greyhoundNine 
> 
> AU I guess (Exit Wound didn't happen or something) so Gwen is either on her honeymoon or maturity leave. 
> 
> Quick head canon. Not super important in this story but I think Jack can be quite over protective *cough*controlling*cough* of his team.

As he wasn’t alive, Owen Harper could not sleep or, as it turned out, get knocked out. By all rights, the fall should have killed him. Then again . . . well. So here he lay staring at the cliff face he’d just fell past, the screeching of that _thing_ that came through the rift still audible over the shouting. Idly, he realized he’d lost his ear piece and the glove on his bandaged hand. Neither ever stayed on very well, maybe he should do something about that during his copious free time. 

Owen debated getting up. The rest of the team was up there, making very slow headway subduing the _thing_. An extra set of hands--okay, one and a half--wouldn’t hurt. He would certainly do better at avoiding its wings this time around. Then again, it wasn’t like they really wanted his help. None of the others would have agreed to his tagging along if they know the tiny blip of rift activity would turn out to be something so dangerous (it’d been a quite week though, so Jack decided the dead guy could participate in team bonding today. Owen would have done just about anything to get out of the hub for an hour or so). Everyone up above was probably relieved they didn’t need to look out for the glass mannequin masquerading as a human. Certainly, Tosh would focus better on the objective if she wasn’t also trying to keep an eye on him.

Oh, and that sound he made on impact was not good. 

“Well fuck.” Owen decided.

He sat up.

“Shit.”

And fell forward.

Owen barely got his hands up in time to break his fall. 

He stared down at the gravel: this was very not good. “Oh-kay.” He said slowly, “Probably shouldn’t have done that.” If his spine broke, moving would only make things worse. Could the energy animating him work without an intact nervous system? He didn’t feel any different, but then numb was his default now. Carefully, Owen tried to wiggle a foot.

“Oh Lord.” He murmured in relief. It was hard to imagine death getting any worse but paralysis would have done it for sure. So, either his spinal column was mostly undamaged or the energy did not need it. Given the angle he was bent at, Owen favored the latter. As loathsome as the thought was, he’d have to just wait like this until someone came and could help him assess the problem. Contrary to what Jack might think, Owen was not completely self-destructive.

At least the sun wasn't directly overhead anymore.

Death had not improved Owen’s sense of time but he thought the tumult above subsided after a few minutes. Now, he just had to wait for someone to remember he’d tagged along with the team today. Pathetic. Five minutes later and he could hear rocks clattering as someone stumbled down the steep road into the quarry. 

“Owen!” Toshiko gasped as she reached him. “Are you alright?”

Owen clenched his teeth. “Absolutely peachy, thanks for asking Tosh.” He spat sarcastically. “Thought I’d just catch a few winks before getting up.”

Tosh knelt and placed a gentle hand on Owen’s shoulder--not that he noticed. “That was thoughtless. I’m sorry. What can I do?”

Owen tried to relax. He didn’t want to upset her, not really at least. “Might have broken my spine, probably a few ribs too. Not that I'm an expert or anything, but this doesn’t look like a natural angle to bend at.” Owen turned his head to look at his teammate then quickly looked away, hating how pathetic this was. “You need to check for open fractures.”

“Okay.” Tosh murmured softly, moving behind him. “Could you unzip your coat?” 

Carefully, Owen balanced his upper body with his gloved hand so he could open the thick leather jacket. It was really too nice of a day for such a heavy coat--not that Owen could tell--but then Tosh hadn’t been thinking about the weather when she gave it to him. One night back when he was still trying to convince Jack that he could resume regular field work, Toshiko snuck Owen out of the hub and took him shopping, adamant that if he could protect himself from the typical bumps and falls associated with field work then Jack could be persuaded. She’d been wrong but Owen appreciate the attempt. And on the rare occasions he had need of them, the clothes were not half bad.

“Thanks.” Tosh pushed up the jacket and t-shirt as Owen returned his hand to the ground. She was quiet for a long moment.

“What?” Owen snapped.

Tosh inhaled shakily. “It doesn’t look like anything broke the skin, but a couple of vertebrae are protruding more than the others and you’re bending oddly right above them.”

“Where?” 

“Here.” Tosh said.

Owen assumed she’d touched the area. “Toshiko,” he hissed between clenched teeth, “if I could have felt that, I wouldn’t need your help.”

“Almost ten centimeters above the small of your back.” She added at nearly the same time. 

Owen was quiet for a moment. “Okay.” Could have been worse; could have been better. He looked over his shoulder at Toshiko. “Will Jack need you back up there soon?”

“No.” Tosh assured. “We got the creature contained. Jack and Ianto are just finishing up now.” She returned to his side, where he could see her easier.

“Then help me up and we’ll join them.” He held his unbandaged hand out to her.

The Japanese woman pressed her lips together. “Are you sure that a good idea? Standing could--”

“I’m a bloody corpse, not an idiot.” Owen snapped, lowering his hand. “I’m capable of moving still, so whatever’s keeping me here doesn’t need an intact central nervous system to do it. I’ll be fine to walk to the van with you to balance on but if I repulse you that much then just go find my other glove and leave me alone. I can drag myself there.” 

“Owen!” Toshiko snapped back. “You know I wasn’t saying anything like that. Stop being such a prick.” She grabbed his arm. “I’ll help you but I hope you realize you would have torn the hell out of that hand even more if you tried to crawl.” She pointed angrily at his exposed, bandaged hand.

Getting him up was the easy part. Walking proved the real challenge. More than fifteen centimeters shorter, Toshiko struggled to climb the steep path and keep Owen’s torso from tipping forward which inevitably dragged them both to the stony ground. Ten minutes and two undoubtedly bruised knees later, and the pair were only halfway up the slope. Toshiko had called Jack before starting the trek to let him know it would take them a while to climb out of the quarry unless Ianto or Jack could lend a hand. Unfortunately, the alien the rift spat out today proved to be fire retardant and thus difficult to incinerate but Jack promised he’d send Ianto down as soon as he could. Owen had stared at the ground during the conversation and remained unusually silent so far.

“Wait.” Toshiko gasped as they reached a flatter stretch. “I just--just need to stop for a moment.”

“Fine.” Owen’s tone lacked most of his earlier bitterness. “I haven’t been holding too tightly, have I?” He asked as her breathing began to slow.

“Not at all.” She insisted quickly, wrapping an arm around his waist again. “I’m good now.” 

Ianto jogged down to them less than five minutes later. “Feathers are surprisingly hard to burn.” He said as preamble before taking the small woman’s place. He was taller than Owen and the journey upward resumed without incident. Ianto only broke the silence again to say, “Owen, I got plenty of bruises today. Mind not squeezing my hand so hard?” 

After a couple of minutes, they’d cleared the pit’s edge. The rest of the way to the van was mostly flat, if long. Jack was just visible in the dimming light as he cleared away the last of the evidence that the winged and feathered serpent ever existed. 

The drive back to the hub wasn’t quiet but Jack carried most of the conversation, recounting a rather graphic story about a time he’d been trapped in a cave infested with feathered spiders. Ianto said the right things at the right times for a while, then looked to have fallen asleep. Toshiko was on one of the computers, double checking that no one had snapped any photos or videos of the alien before the team found it. Owen held onto his seat belt, gazing blankly out the window.

When they arrived, Toshiko helped Owen out of the van and into the medical room. Once there, he pushed away from her, staying upright with the help of the autopsy table.

“Right.” She said, cheerfulness strained. “Let’s get you laying down, then I’ll prep the scanner.” She reached out but he sullenly slid farther along the table. “Stop being such an arse, Owen.” Toshiko moved forward but more tentatively this time.

Owen glared at her. “I can do it from here Tosh. Go write a report or something.”

Toshiko’s face fell. “I’m just trying to--”

“Well bloody don’t!” The Englishman snapped back. “Fucking get out and leave me alone.”

“Fine!” Blinking rapidly a few times, Toshiko marched back up the stairs. Once at her desk, she rubbed the sore spot on her shoulder where a hand shaped bruise was forming.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know jack diddly-squat about spine injuries and defend myself by saying "He's dead. Does it really matter?"
> 
> Thanks for giving this little thing a try. I may get around to a second part were Toshiko gets to help Owen with this predicament, but not today. :) May write some more undead Owen stuff because I'm a sucker for it and can't seem to find enough. 
> 
> If anyone has recommendations for undead Owen stories or things they wish were in a story, please let me know!


End file.
